[Drosera]

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyberidd /img/forum/go_quote.gif Current Foobar settings: Output-USB DAC (Compass); Buffer length-1500 ms; Output format-16 bit. Should I change any of these?

Hard to say. You could just fiddle around with them, see if it makes a change. For example, try switching to 32-bit. If that doesn't work you might try the older build of foobar (0.8) with the otachan plugins, or perhaps a different media player like Media Monkey (also with Otachan ASIO).

This post may also help.

 

[Pricklely Peete]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hot Pixel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Am I the only one that thinks the compass is just nice? I don't have the feeling I want to marry it, nor am I awestruck by how different everything sounds. Everything sounds kind of the same. Clearer, for sure; but it's not something that makes me want to (-by the need to-) change underwear. Sure I had my moments where I thought "WTH?!?!" (turned out to be the creaking bench of the organ player lol), which is very neat, but still. It's probably my nickel ears talking, so you may take it with a grain of salt (as per usual) But I do think it would be good for us, as a community, to turn down our hype-o-meter a bit and try to maintain the credibility this device and this community both deserve. Because it really is a good device. But it's just that. A good device. I'm not trying to flame here or something; it's nice to be euphoric once in a while. But this is lasting 408 pages already. It might be time to sober up a bit. aye?

How many hours do you have on yours ?

Peete.

 

[Currawong]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hot Pixel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Am I the only one that thinks the compass is just nice? I don't have the feeling I want to marry it, nor am I awestruck by how different everything sounds. Everything sounds kind of the same. Clearer, for sure; but it's not something that makes me want to (-by the need to-) change underwear. Sure I had my moments where I thought "WTH?!?!" (turned out to be the creaking bench of the organ player lol), which is very neat, but still. It's probably my nickel ears talking, so you may take it with a grain of salt (as per usual) But I do think it would be good for us, as a community, to turn down our hype-o-meter a bit and try to maintain the credibility this device and this community both deserve. Because it really is a good device. But it's just that. A good device. I'm not trying to flame here or something; it's nice to be euphoric once in a while. But this is lasting 408 pages already. It might be time to sober up a bit. aye?

I had a good chuckle at this. I agree with it though, but to the point I understand that people for whom this is their first bit of solid head-fi gear beyond their headphones will obviously be quite amazed with the upgrade from their onboard sound and want to express that.

You'll find that the traffic in this thread is considerably lower than it would be had I not written the FAQ. The traffic in the Zero thread, for example, dropped dramatically after I created a FAQ answering all the common questions. So, we are left with mostly other discussion. A lot of this relates to the HDAMs, which can be fun to play around with and educational for the end user.

It's been interesting for me watching how this has progressed and the reaction to it though. It has been quite epic. I hope everyone is enjoying their music.

 

[ExtraNice]

My package that was shipped on the 17th has arrived in Australia.

\o/

Great news!

So what should I be listening out for with my compass?
Greater separation
Tighter, baster bass
Less sibilance

Anything else?

 

[Drosera]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hot Pixel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Am I the only one that thinks the compass is just nice? I don't have the feeling I want to marry it, nor am I awestruck by how different everything sounds. Everything sounds kind of the same. Clearer, for sure; but it's not something that makes me want to (-by the need to-) change underwear. Sure I had my moments where I thought "WTH?!?!" (turned out to be the creaking bench of the organ player lol), which is very neat, but still. It's probably my nickel ears talking, so you may take it with a grain of salt (as per usual)

You're right to a degree, but then again, hype is what this forum is about.

But seriously, like Curra said, the Compass is for many people their first really good entry into DAC and amp territory. People or hearing music like they never heard it before, perhaps even never imagined it could sound like this. It's more or less equivalent to people getting their first taste of good headphones.

That said, it ain't all 'noob-talk'. Some far more experienced members, who are capable of a much more comprehensive perspective on the Compass's relative quality, have also said very positive things about it.

The quality of the Compass is most apparent for me in the way that it can hugely improve with the quality of digital input. Honestly, I still think that a lot of people here are not tapping anywhere near the full potential of their Compass. USB is nice, I guess. ASIO4all is better. A dedicated soundcard with good ASIO, an E-MU or M-Audio USB receiver or real ASIO drivers is a major leap. (At least, this I conclude from my own and other people's experiences.) And of course a good optical disc transport works miracles too.

And, like Peete implied, the Compass will improve in the first few 100 hours of use. They are very significant too, yet it's easy to make too much of these improvements.

But, to end on a note of slight disagreement, I think the Compass is more than just 'nice'. It's simply amazing for what it offers for it's price. Yes, there's far better to be had. A lot of stuff is so much better that you couldn't even reliably compare it to the Compass. But then your looking at pricetags that are incomparable to the Compass price as well.

Anyways, I like all this 'hype'. It shows people are enjoying their music and that's what this site is really about, after all.

 

[cyberidd]

So a bit of an update, I've changed the Foobar settings so they are 5000ms buffer and 32bit output, and so far there have been no problems with pops. It sometimes happened a lot and other times wouldn't happen at all though so I think it'll take a bit more listening for me to be fully convinced that its fixed. Anyways, thanks for all the help!

 

[sandchak]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hot Pixel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Am I the only one that thinks the compass is just nice?

Not really.. there was another person who felt Compass was OK, but he never followed with further impressions, I was looking forward to it because it was his out of the Box impressions.. or maybe he did write afterwards and I overlooked his post.

That said, as per my belief and many others in this thread, both noobs and experienced people, Compass's true potential is realized further with time (burn in) and source, well we have also seen that it depends on the application. I have personally heard the difference starting from MP3 files, to FLAC, and both my CD players NADC541i and Marantz CD17, and the improvements I have experienced was from leaps and bounds, just like you start off with just nice, then good and then really good.. and then it went to excellent or even WOW !

So give it a little time to burn in, try and improve the source and I am sure the Compass will start showing its true potential.

Which is why I feel to come to a judgment that its just nice without looking into the above things, to me it is

..

 

[Hot Pixel]

@ everybody who replied to my statement:
I'm not disappointed in the compass. On the contrary. But people treat like it's the second coming and it might get people like me (e.g. 'noobs') riled up for something that's perhaps not what they expected it to be (again; I'm thoroughly satisfied with the compass).
I've been here not so long, but only after getting the HD414 pads for my SR225 I'm beginning understand that alot of talk is somewhat hyperbolic to a degree (must be careful now... I mean it in a good way: it is supposed to be like that, but it takes a while to figure out).

To 'untrained' ears like mine the difference in sound might be much more subtle than is suggested by the pros (who know their stuff). Sure the compass makes a difference; but not so much that you can say it's been like listening to music underwater compared to what you're hearing now. If I put such a statement through my hyperbole filter I get exactly what you mean. However; this might be something most of us newbs (who, incidentially could be the target group price-wise, and are more sensitive to hype) might not know yet.

If I say to somebody my heart is on fire for this one particular girl everybody understands I don't mean that literally. But if I say my integrated soundcard is -in hindsight- rubbish, and it sounds like grinding coffee in a steelwork factory compared to the compass I create expectations that cannot be met by somebody with no experience in audio-equipment (or, more specifically: audophile-standards).
And if you don't understand hyperbole is necessary to make yourself clear you go in and expect the end of the world music-wise. Which is simply not the case. Cause your music still remains the same. It maybe (likely) sound different, but it's still the same music (in most cases, for most untrained ears)

As for the compass: I needed a versatile dac/amp for practicality reasons and I've found one in the compass. I bought it on a whim, thanks to the hype.
I'm extremely happy, and it gives me alot of joy. But I'm to inexperienced to enjoy it like most of you do (blissful ignorance).

I don't consider myself an audiophile. Far from it (Audiophallic at most

). But the biggest change in my music was not because of the change in equipment; it was by re-learning how to listen to it. Something which you all helped me do.

Gah. I'm hoping I make myself clear here

 

[K3cT]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hot Pixel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Am I the only one that thinks the compass is just nice? I don't have the feeling I want to marry it, nor am I awestruck by how different everything sounds. Everything sounds kind of the same. Clearer, for sure; but it's not something that makes me want to (-by the need to-) change underwear. Sure I had my moments where I thought "WTH?!?!" (turned out to be the creaking bench of the organ player lol), which is very neat, but still. It's probably my nickel ears talking, so you may take it with a grain of salt (as per usual) But I do think it would be good for us, as a community, to turn down our hype-o-meter a bit and try to maintain the credibility this device and this community both deserve. Because it really is a good device. But it's just that. A good device. I'm not trying to flame here or something; it's nice to be euphoric once in a while. But this is lasting 408 pages already. It might be time to sober up a bit. aye?

Indeed, I can agree with you. The Compass does sound clean, perhaps too clean for some people but I can see where you're coming from.

However, the value of this device is simply outstanding. At $300, I'm hard-pressed to find a competing amp/DAC combo that can give me an equal performance.

 

[Drosera]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hot Pixel /img/forum/go_quote.gif @ everybody who replied to my statement: I'm not disappointed in the compass. On the contrary. But people treat like it's the second coming and it might get people like me (e.g. 'noobs') riled up for something that's perhaps not what they expected it to be (again; I'm thoroughly satisfied with the compass). I've been here not so long, but only after getting the HD414 pads for my SR225 I'm beginning understand that alot of talk is somewhat hyperbolic to a degree (must be careful now... I mean it in a good way: it is supposed to be like that, but it takes a while to figure out). To 'untrained' ears like mine the difference in sound might be much more subtle than is suggested by the pros (who know their stuff). Sure the compass makes a difference; but not so much that you can say it's been like listening to music underwater compared to what you're hearing now. If I put such a statement through my hyperbole filter I get exactly what you mean. However; this might be something most of us newbs (who, incidentially could be the target group price-wise, and are more sensitive to hype) might not know yet.

Don't worry, I think most of us understood what you were saying, I just wanted to present my view point on it. You're right, this entire forum should come with a "hyperbole warning label". And yet all the superlatives used on the forum here are only partly a ways to get one's point across. Mostly they are a genuine reflection of the strong emotions (likes and dislikes) this equipment awakes in us. I can certainly think of headphones I hate. Hate to the extent that I'd rather not listen to music at all, than listen to it through those headphones.

But, yes, it takes a good while to learn to use this forum. To know what sort of opinions to trust and what to ignore. Now and then there are also people (rest assured, I'm definitely not suggesting you're one of them

) who buy a lot of expensive gear and have to conclude that they can't hear the difference with the cheap stuff they used to listen to music earlier. Some of those people report it in the forums, I think a lot more just disappear from this forum enormously disappointed.

So, hyperbole certainly has its victims.

 

[Haoting]

I doubt a Compass + Panther at a combined cost of $668 will sound any better than my $150 Xiangsheng H-80BIII tube hybrid amplifier using computer FLAC/MP3 files and USB as source hooked up to my Swans M1 bookshelf speakers.

Some of you guys should try listening to tubes instead of transistor (solid state) audio equipment. The general consensus in the Hi-Fi world is that tubes have a warmer and more musical sound. I find the tube sound is much more comfortable to listen to for extended periods.

Hefei XiangSheng Electronic Co.,Ltd

Xiangsheng H-80BIII

 

[Currawong]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hot Pixel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Gah. I'm hoping I make myself clear here

You are. I think what you say is very balanced. There's a segment of Head-fi "old-timers" who are very strongly against hype.

You make a very good point about more experienced listeners considering differences to be bigger than people new to hi-fidelity audio, who, I think would be most sensitive to tonal changes more than anything.

The significance of changes when components are updated has been on my mind a lot lately. I was actually thinking, for example, of changing the mention of the power cord in the FAQ to a suggestion that if you have top-of-the-range regular headphones (Senn HD-600/650, AKG 5/6/701, etc) that you might notice an improvement in detail/clarity etc, but probably wouldn't make as much of a noticeable improvement if your cans are lower down on the scale.

Go the long sentences....anyway...

 

[pete~]

can the compass dac have two outputs at the same time?

What I mean is I want a variable output on the rca and the headphones. If not, then I want one variable while the other fixed.

 

[mbd2884]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hot Pixel /img/forum/go_quote.gif Am I the only one that thinks the compass is just nice? I don't have the feeling I want to marry it, nor am I awestruck by how different everything sounds. Everything sounds kind of the same. Clearer, for sure; but it's not something that makes me want to (-by the need to-) change underwear. Sure I had my moments where I thought "WTH?!?!" (turned out to be the creaking bench of the organ player lol), which is very neat, but still. It's probably my nickel ears talking, so you may take it with a grain of salt (as per usual) But I do think it would be good for us, as a community, to turn down our hype-o-meter a bit and try to maintain the credibility this device and this community both deserve. Because it really is a good device. But it's just that. A good device. I'm not trying to flame here or something; it's nice to be euphoric once in a while. But this is lasting 408 pages already. It might be time to sober up a bit. aye?

Am I flaming you, no. I'm just saying this is not hype, it's just very exciting to get something of this build quality, with these parts used for only $258. So before anyone starts saying, OMG mbd is just ripping on another poster, no I'm not. I'm asking this poster a legitimate question related to his response. And his response ONLY, no one else.

No loss of SQ or quality of sound as people are able to switch from DAC out/Pre-Amp, or just using as is for headphones. What earth-shattering experience were you looking for in a product that only costs $258 and probably under $500 in the future? You just spent next to nothing. Even a cheaply made DACs are often sold for more than the Compass' current price tag and they sell those DAC with a 10 Watt toroidal. Really show me another option with a 50 watt toroidal with a massive rectifier for an audio equipment of this size. And then a DAC with USB/Coax/Optical input using the best PCM2707 USB input possible on the market, with a I2S design to a well implemented AD1852 D/A? And then using the DIR9001 to keep jitter to a minimal? And add to that a true, full Class A Discrete Amplifer. The DAC having an all discrete output using a true discrete HDAM as a buffer. Really where else can us fortunate Compass users have looked for a better deal for our money?

This issue wasn't over, the Compass is the "best" DAC/Amp combo around. I will never go to someone who has a Lavry DA11 and say, rofl, my Compass is better than yours. But if I read in a thread of someone saying, hey I'm on a budget and looking for the best deal for price/performance margin I can find, then I will mention the Compass. Cause with all that I mentioned above, Kingwa still made sure you are getting locking Neutrik Jack, an Alps Blue Velvet, massive audio grade Nover capacitors, Dale/Vishay resistors and only using audio grade "exact" matched transistors by Toshiba and Hitachi.

Often people will note you can DIY a better product with better parts than a commercial product. It's a challenge for anyone to be able to create something as substantial as the Compass, but challenge is also, they have to use their own NEW and ORIGINAL design. Not just a cough out, I can make a Dynali for for same amount, that's Gilmore's design, not theirs, but even then they have to fit in a DAC within the same cost it makes for just the Amp. Because that's what Kingwa did, he wasn't like Justin at HeadAmp who just used someone else's, granted tried and true Gilmore design to sell commercially. Kingwa presented his own design using his own philosophy for audio. Kingwa presented to us a new product, something no one has ever seen, something new for veterans to look over and have fun with. Kingwa could have cut corners in so many places but didn't. So that is the challenge, creating your own ORIGINAL designed Amp and DAC for $258 using boutique audio parts! Even down to an all aluminum volume and input selector knobs with aluminum push buttons. The only plastic on I see is the red push tab on top of the massive Neutrik jack. Have you even looked to see how much it costs to have an all aluminum painted casing? The Compass has a 8mm thick paneling!

Also Customer Service is very costly and time consuming. Answering our questions. I can't imagine how many times Cherry/Kingwa must have answered the exact same questions from numerous customers. And then taking the time to explain in the best way possible as them being Chinese and we english speaking. Keeping his website as informative and clean as possible and updated. Responding to Head-Fier's suggestions with actual implementation in the product. So really for $258, I don't think it would even cover the costs for parts and "SERVICE" that Audio-gd has offered us if it was built by anyone else.

So before insulting some of the other very excited users, including myself, I ask what was it were you expecting for $258? And what is your experience with Audio equipment to be able to say we are disillusioned?

 

[Hot Pixel]

Whoa whoa mb. Take some deep breaths, because I'm under the impression you misinterpretet my genuine 'concern'.
Let me start of by saying that if I gave you the feeling I insulted you I'm truly sorry, for it was not my intention.
That being said; I don't like the words you put into my mouth. I never said that anybody was disillusioned. Not only do I find it extremely childish to badmouth people (really, it's not my style), I even think it's beautiful that you guys can get so passionate about your audio-equipment (As you should, imo).

The only point I was trying to make was that somebody like me (with nickel ears (and what does that tell you about my experience?)) might walk away disillusioned because somebody like me can't (yet) appreciate the nuances a machine like this might give to somebody like you. I needed to bring this up to tame the hype a bit, because it kind of overshadows what's good about the device, strangely enough.

I do wish to add this though, on a more personal note: You seem like an intelligent human being, since your entire argument was well thought out, and sums up pretty much everything on how I feel about the DAC. From it's excellent build quality, to the incredible service (in fact I am better looked after by Audio-GD then my own mother -to hyperbole it up a bit

-). So in the future it might pay to look at how others (like Currawong, Drosera, K3CT) reacted to my post, and from that deduct how my comment was probably intended.

On a sidenote: You (indirectly) led me to the compass, and I'm thankful for it. So thanks

Quote:

Originally Posted by mbd2884 /img/forum/go_quote.gif Am I flaming you, no. I'm just saying this is not hype, it's just very exciting to get something of this build quality, with these parts used for only $258. So before anyone starts saying, OMG mbd is just ripping on another poster, no I'm not. I'm asking this poster a legitimate question related to his response. And his response ONLY, no one else. No loss of SQ or quality of sound as people are able to switch from DAC out/Pre-Amp, or just using as is for headphones. What earth-shattering experience were you looking for in a product that only costs $258 and probably under $500 in the future? You just spent next to nothing. Even a cheaply made DACs are often sold for more than the Compass' current price tag and they sell those DAC with a 10 Watt toroidal. Really show me another option with a 50 watt toroidal with a massive rectifier for an audio equipment of this size. And then a DAC with USB/Coax/Optical input using the best PCM2707 USB input possible on the market, with a I2S design to a well implemented AD1852 D/A? And then using the DIR9001 to keep jitter to a minimal? And add to that a true, full Class A Discrete Amplifer. The DAC having an all discrete output using a true discrete HDAM as a buffer. Really where else can us fortunate Compass users have looked for a better deal for our money? This issue wasn't over, the Compass is the "best" DAC/Amp combo around. I will never go to someone who has a Lavry DA11 and say, rofl, my Compass is better than yours. But if I read in a thread of someone saying, hey I'm on a budget and looking for the best deal for price/performance margin I can find, then I will mention the Compass. Cause with all that I mentioned above, Kingwa still made sure you are getting locking Neutrik Jack, an Alps Blue Velvet, massive audio grade Nover capacitors, Dale/Vishay resistors and only using audio grade "exact" matched transistors by Toshiba and Hitachi. Often people will note you can DIY a better product with better parts than a commercial product. It's a challenge for anyone to be able to create something as substantial as the Compass, but challenge is also, they have to use their own NEW and ORIGINAL design. Not just a cough out, I can make a Dynali for for same amount, that's Gilmore's design, not theirs, but even then they have to fit in a DAC within the same cost it makes for just the Amp. Because that's what Kingwa did, he wasn't like Justin at HeadAmp who just used someone else's, granted tried and true Gilmore design to sell commercially. Kingwa presented his own design using his own philosophy for audio. Kingwa presented to us a new product, something no one has ever seen, something new for veterans to look over and have fun with. Kingwa could have cut corners in so many places but didn't. So that is the challenge, creating your own ORIGINAL designed Amp and DAC for $258 using boutique audio parts! Even down to an all aluminum volume and input selector knobs with aluminum push buttons. The only plastic on I see is the red push tab on top of the massive Neutrik jack. Have you even looked to see how much it costs to have an all aluminum painted casing? The Compass has a 8mm thick paneling! Also Customer Service is very costly and time consuming. Answering our questions. I can't imagine how many times Cherry/Kingwa must have answered the exact same questions from numerous customers. And then taking the time to explain in the best way possible as them being Chinese and we english speaking. Keeping his website as informative and clean as possible and updated. Responding to Head-Fier's suggestions with actual implementation in the product. So really for $258, I don't think it would even cover the costs for parts and "SERVICE" that Audio-gd has offered us if it was built by anyone else. So before insulting some of the other very excited users, including myself, I ask what was it were you expecting for $258? And what is your experience with Audio equipment to be able to say we are disillusioned?

Quote:

Originally Posted by pete~ /img/forum/go_quote.gif can the compass dac have two outputs at the same time? What I mean is I want a variable output on the rca and the headphones. If not, then I want one variable while the other fixed.

Nope, don't think so, the FAQ mentions the pre-amp switch diverts the signal from the front to the back. I'm probably wrong though; so you might want to wait until somebody knowledgeable comes along.